Escape from Dartmoor (1929)
"A Cottage on Dartmoor" (original title)

Flashback story of an escape from the lonely, high-security Dartmoor Prison. A jealous barber's assistant is enraged by the attentions that his manicurist girlfriend pays to a customer. He ... See full summary »

Director:

Anthony Asquith

Writers:

Anthony Asquith (scenario), Herbert Price (story)

Stars:

Norah Baring, Uno Henning, Hans Adalbert Schlettow

Cast

Cast overview:
Norah Baring	...	Sally, a manicurist
Uno Henning	...	Joe, a barber's assistant
Hans Adalbert Schlettow	...	Harry, a Dartmoor farmer (as Hans Schlettow)

Storyline

Flashback story of an escape from the lonely, high-security Dartmoor Prison. A jealous barber's assistant is enraged by the attentions that his manicurist girlfriend pays to a customer. He threatens the customer with an open razor and lands in gaol.

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Plot Keywords:

dartmoor | film within a film | british countryside | escape from prison | jealousy | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Country:

Sweden UK

Release Date:

11 April 1930 (USA)

Also Known As:

Escape from Dartmoor

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Instructional Films (BIF), Svensk Filmindustri (SF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (theatre scene) (soundtrack lost) Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood (1995)

User Reviews

A barber, a manicurist & a client are on the razor's edge of a deadly love triangle.

Anthony Asquith is best known for straightforward film-making in the so-called British literary tradition which served him particularly well in stage-to-screen adaptations of G. B. Shaw & Terrence Rattigan. Letting the writer function as auteur doesn't win you critical kudos, but films as fine as PYGMALION/'38 and THE BROWNING VERSION/'51 don't just 'happen.' Even so, it's fun to watch the young Asquith show off, even needlessly, on late silents like this & UNDERGROUND/'28, also out on DVD. You can all but hear him parsing the latest Russian or German import just screened at his CineClub. There's some strikingly fast montage work and psychological P.O.V. stuff (even a shock-flash of red tinting as in the original prints of Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND/'45), but the main influence is UFA studios with their posh camera moves, rich visual texture, expressionist acting, shadowy lighting & diagonal slashes The opening works best as Swedish actor Uno Henning (in his only British role, he's an intriguing mix of Buster Keaton & Conrad Veidt) breaks out of prison in search of revenge. The story flashes back to detail a rather commonplace love triangle that gives Asquith plenty of space for his set pieces (a visit to the cinema, a very close shave, et al.) which tend to run on a bit too long. But no matter, it's all ravishing to watch and if the characterizations never quite add up, the visual touches are worth the stretch.